Donald Trump reportedly praises Pakistan's 'terrific' PM ~ Donald Trump News

Kamis, 01 Desember 2016

Donald Trump reportedly praises Pakistan's 'terrific' PM

Story highlights

Pakistan issued a statement directly quoting President-elect Donald Trump
Trump was quoted as telling Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif he is "doing amazing work"
The Trump team would not confirm the quotes

We know that Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and US President-elect Donald Trump spoke on the phone Wednesday.

What was said during that call is what's at issue.

After the conversation, the Pakistan Prime Minister's Office put out a statement directly quoting Trump -- a violation of diplomatic protocol -- in which he glowingly praised Sharif.

The statement quoted President-elect Trump as telling Sharif "you are a terrific guy. You are doing amazing work which is visible in every way. I am looking forward to see you soon. As I am talking to you, Prime Minister, I feel I am talking to a person I have known for long."

The President-elect's office put out a statement saying the two sides "had a productive conversation about how the United States and Pakistan will have a strong working relationship in the future."

The Trump team has acknowledged the call took place, but did not publicly confirm the quotes.

The danger

Readouts of phone calls between world leaders are usually written safely way in order to protect leaders from incidental backlash -- like the one the Trump team put out.

They're dry and diplomatic statements summing up conversations using carefully chosen buzzwords.

And political insiders say the calls themselves are usually quite formal.

"A president wouldn't gush over a foreign leader the way that Donald Trump did. He wouldn't volunteer to do all these things," says CNN political analyst David Gergen, who has served as an adviser to four presidents.

"Our relationship with Pakistan is one of the most sensitive and difficult relationships in the world. It's an extremely important relationship."

When making that call, a president would likely have a press aide and national security advisers at his side, according to Gergen.

"You'd carefully think through any call like that, you'd make your two or three points, [then] over and out," he said. "Especially don't leave them in a position where they could put out something so gushing that it hurts your relationship with India."

The disconnect

In the past, the President-elect has been a vocal critic of Pakistan.

"Get it straight: Pakistan is not our friend," he tweeted in 2011.

"When will Pakistan apologize to us for providing safe sanctuary to Osama Bin Laden for 6 years?! Some 'ally,'" he tweeted in 2012.

And Trump said in October if he was elected, the United States and India -- Pakistan's longtime adversary -- would be "best friends."

While the comments could have caused friction with Pakistan, they -- and the quotes the Pakistanis attribute to Trump -- fall in line with the President-elect's campaign pledge to employ the relationship-building skills he used in his business career in the diplomatic sphere.

It also could be another case of growing pains for a political newbie, if the quotes are accurate.

Some world leaders had trouble getting in touch with President-elect Trump immediately after his election.

The President-elect is traditionally briefed by the State Department prior to making these calls. But Trump, as he's proven throughout his campaign, isn't one to stick to traditional political norms.

The State Department said it was contacted after the Trump team had already spoken with several world leaders.

"Quite frankly, nobody knows what the protocol is with Donald Trump," CNN Politics Executive Editor Mark Preston said.

Follow Joshua Berlinger on Twitter

CNN's Elise Labott and Lauren Said-Moorhouse contributed to this report

Donald Trump News

Kamis, 01 Desember 2016